Taiwan Independence Archives - Talking Taiwan Podcast

Taiwan American Voices Remembered on the 25th Anniversary of 9/11 | Ep 362

Felicia Lin — Fri, 11 Sep 2026 06:40:34 +0000

This year marks the 25th anniversary of 9/11. September 11, 2001 when four commercial passenger airplanes were hijacked by terrorists linked to the Islamic extremist group al Qaeda. Two of the planes struck the World Trade Center in New York City causing the twin towers to collapse and a third plane hit the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, just outside Washington, D.C. The passengers and crew of the fourth plane fought the hijackers, and the plane crashed in a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Close to 3,000 people were killed by the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Several different figures have been published, but according to the 9/11 Memorial & Museum 2,977 people were killed.

Do you remember where you were when 9/11 happened?

I remember where I was on September 11, 2001, when I heard that the World Trade Center twin towers in New York had collapsed after being struck by two hijacked planes.

I was actually in Taiwan and all alone in my parent’s apartment in Kaohsiung. I had relocated to Taiwan from New York, just a few months before 9/11. The way I found out about the whole thing was a phone call from my Mom telling me what had happened. I remember being in disbelief and immediately turning on the TV and seeing CNN reporting on it.

25 years have passed since that tragic day.

What happens when there’s a generation of Americans who have no recollection of 9/11? That’s something that my guest on this episode, David has thought about. David found a personal connection to 9/11 through the personal stories of the Taiwanese who died on 9/11. His hope is that by sharing the stories of the Taiwanese who lost their lives on 9/11, younger Taiwanese Americans can find a connection to 9/11.

Puma Shen (沈伯洋) DPP Taipei Mayoral Candidate’s Vision for Taipei City: Our FULL INTERVIEW | Ep 361

Felicia Lin — Wed, 09 Sep 2026 14:00:29 +0000

The last time that Taipei elected a mayor from the Democratic Progressive Party was Chen Shui-bian (陳水扁) in 1994. At the time it seemed like some kind of a breakthrough because Taipei is known to be a Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang stronghold. During his tenure as mayor of Taipei, Chen Shui-bian had a very high public approval rating of over 70% to nearly 80%. In spite of this he was not reelected for a second term. Instead, the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang candidate Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) was elected mayor of Taipei. Now nearly 30 years have passed and none of the DPP mayoral candidates have been able to get elected in Taipei since. Will this year’s DPP candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) be able to break the spell?

In this episode you’ll learn about more about who Puma Shen is and what his vision for Taipei City is.

Puma is an Associate Professor at National Taipei University’s Graduate School of Criminology, Co-Founder of Doublethink Lab, Co-Founder of Kuma Academy, and this year’s Taipei City mayoral candidate for Democratic Progressive Party.

Meet Puma Shen (沈伯洋): The Democratic Progressive Party Legislator Running for Taipei Mayor | Ep 360

Felicia Lin — Tue, 08 Sep 2026 01:12:47 +0000

In July Puma Shen (沈伯洋) who’s currently a Legislator in Taiwan’s Legislative Yuan came to the U.S. for an eight-day trip. Puma is an Associate Professor at National Taipei University’s Graduate School of Criminology, Co-Founder of Doublethink Lab, Co-Founder of Kuma Academy, and this year’s Taipei City mayoral candidate for Democratic Progressive Party.

It’s been nearly 30 years since Taipei has elected a DPP mayor and Puma most definitely has an uphill battle because Taipei voters usually vote for politicians from the Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang. According to a poll released by Taiwan Brain Trust in May, the incumbent Taipei Mayor Chiang Wan-an (蔣萬安) led DPP Taipei mayoral candidate Puma Shen (沈伯洋) by more than 20 points.

Puma gave a talk when he was in New York on July 24th and many people showed up to hear him speak. We were at his talk and wanted to share some translated highlights from it. We recorded Puma’s entire talk on July 24th and it’s on Talking Taiwan’s YouTube channel if you’d like to watch it. Incredibly the video now has over 60,000 views!

More exciting news for us…

I’ve been following Puma’s career since he founded Doublethink Lab in 2019, so I was excited to finally have a chance to sit down with him for an interview just 2 days after he officially registered as the DPP candidate for Taipei Mayor. We will share a short clip from the interview at the end this episode before we release the entire interview soon.

Akio Yaita (矢板明夫) Outspoken Taiwan Advocate: In Taiwan I Can Make a Bigger Contribution | Ep 355

Felicia Lin — Sat, 01 Aug 2026 10:19:09 +0000

While we were at last year’s Taiwanese American Conference West Coast in July of 2025 which was hosted in San Francisco Silicon Valley, we sat down with Akio Yaita (矢板明夫), the keynote speaker of the conference. As a senior journalist at Sankei Shimbun Akio has covered Beijing and Taipei. He’s been a strong advocate for Taiwan. In 2024 Akio obtained citizenship in Taiwan and founded the Indo-Pacific Strategy Thinktank.

As we were working on translating and editing our interview with Akio we were disturbed to learn that on July 6th Akio was assaulted after a speaking engagement in Taichung. While Akio was in the lobby of a hotel, a Chinese man approached him and punched him in the face. The man, surnamed Liao (廖) was later arrested at the Taichung International Airport. Taiwan’s Mainland Affairs Council described the attack as the “first case of transnational repression” in Taiwan since China’s Ethnic Unity and Progress Promotion Law took effect on July 1. After the attack Akio has said that he will not be intimidated.

What timing it’s turned out to be for us to be sharing our interview with Akio Yaita now. You’ll get know about his backstory and how you can follow him and his work.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Pacific Times.

Birdy Explores Universal Themes of Freedom, Limitation and Identity Relevant to Taiwan | Ep 353

Felicia Lin — Fri, 17 Jul 2026 21:16:25 +0000

We were at the dress rehearsal of BIRDY, one Hung Dance’s most critically acclaimed productions, which will be premiering in New York at NYU Skirball on July 17 & 18^th. BIRDY explores the relationship between freedom, limitation, and identity through a distinctive movement language inspired by Tai Chi, traditional Peking opera and contemporary dance.

We sat down to speak with Lai Hung-Chung, Choreographer and Artistic Director of Hung Dance about his artistic vision for BIRDY and Wei-Ping Chen the dance company’s Operations Director. Lai told us that the themes of freedom, limitation, and identity not only reflect his personal struggles but also relate to Taiwan’s situation.

Hung Dance is an award-winning Taiwanese contemporary dance company founded in 2017. The troupe’s name comes from the Chinese character 翃 (Hóng), meaning to fly.

Claire Wang (王婉諭) Chairwoman of the New Power Party Talks about Relaunching the Party | Ep 352

Felicia Lin — Tue, 14 Jul 2026 11:58:58 +0000

We sat down to speak with Claire Wang (王婉諭), chairwoman of the New Power Party, one of Taiwan political parties, that emerged from the Sunflower Movement. While she never imagined herself going into politics, personal circumstances changed that. She’s a powerful example of transforming personal tragedy into action. Wang is a passionate advocate for progressive values and local democracy, from judicial reform and child protection to housing justice. Now she’s leading a new chapter for the New Power Party. Last July we brought Talking Taiwan to TAC-WC, the Taiwanese American Conference West Coast hosted in San Francisco/Silicon Valley.

It was just weeks before the historic July 26th vote to recall 24 Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang lawmakers. At the time it was the largest recall effort attempted by the citizens of a democracy. As a result of what was called the Great Recall Movement, a total of 31 KMT legislators were put up for a recall vote. Another 7 KMT legislators in addition to the first 24 would be up for a recall vote on August 23. Last July Talking Taiwan traveled back to witness the first recall vote on July 26th. To learn more about the Great Recall movement we encourage you to listen to our past episodes 316 with recall campaigners Carol, Acho and Eric, and 317 with Courtney Donovan Smith.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Pacific Times (太平洋時報).

Dr. Hsing-Huan Wang (王興煥): Chairman of the Taiwan Statebuilding Party, An Unwavering Voice for Taiwan’s Independence | Ep 351

Felicia Lin — Tue, 07 Jul 2026 11:02:38 +0000

Dr. Hsing-Huan Wang (王興煥) is chairman of the Taiwan Statebuilding party. Last July we sat down to speak with him at TAC-WC, the Taiwanese American Conference West Coast hosted in San Francisco/Silicon Valley. We talked about how he went from studying Buddhist philosophy and aspirations to pursue academic research as a professor, to accidentally becoming a politician. The Taiwan Statebuilding has a clear vision for an independent Taiwan and a Taiwanese Republic. The party also takes a hard line on China as an enemy state.

This interview was recorded just weeks before the historic July 26th vote in 2025 to recall 24 Chinese Nationalist Kuomintang lawmakers. At the time it was the largest recall effort attempted by the citizens of a democracy. As a result of what was called the Great Recall Movement, a total of 31 KMT legislators were put up for a recall vote. Another 7 KMT legislators in addition to the first 24 would be up for a recall vote on August 23. Last July Talking Taiwan traveled back to witness the first recall vote on July 26th. To learn more about the Great Recall movement we encourage you to listen to our past episodes 316 with recall campaigners Carol, Acho and Eric, and 317 with Courtney Donovan Smith.

This episode is sponsored in part by the Pacific Times (太平洋時報).

Cony Hsieh Kaohsiung Pride President Focuses on LGBTQ+ Issues and Reforming Taiwan’s Military | Ep 350

Felicia Lin — Wed, 01 Jul 2026 07:48:09 +0000

Happy Pride month! Cony Hsieh is President of the Kaohsiung Pride Parade Association. We recently spoke with Cony about her experience as a lesbian woman serving in Taiwan’s military, and how she hopes her research on gender issues in the military can help push for reform in Taiwan’s military.

She’s also a podcaster and her podcast 微叛逆ê副駕 (which has been translated as “The Slightly Rebellious Co-pilot”) is about LGBTQ+ life experiences and gender issues in the military. She once created 28 days of podcast episodes covering a range of LGBTQ+ experiences for Pride Month!

Cony has a master’s degree from the Graduate Institute of Gender Education at National Kaohsiung Normal University.

Related Links:

Get Exclusive Access to the REPLAY VIDEO of the 2026 Talking Taiwan Gala by making a contribution of $50 or more: https://events.humanitix.com/talking-taiwan-2026-fundraising-gala

Cony Hsieh’s podcast 微叛逆ê副駕 (which has been translated as “The Slightly Rebellious Co-pilot): https://podcasts.apple.com/tw/podcast/%E5%BE%AE%E5%8F%9B%E9%80%86%C3%AA%E5%89%AF%E9%A7%95/id1547207923?l=en-GB

Kaohsiung Pride: https://www.instagram.com/khpride/

What Led to Taiwan’s Same Sex Marriage? Ep 83

What Led to Taiwan’s Same Sex Marriage? Ep 83: https://talkingtaiwan.com/what-led-to-taiwans-same-sex-marriage-ep-83/

Taiwan Hosts WorldPride 2025: Our Conversation with Darien Chen and Amazin LeThi Ep 162

Taiwan Hosts WorldPride 2025: Our Conversation with Darien Chen and Amazin LeThi (Episode 162): https://talkingtaiwan.com/taiwan-hosts-worldpride-2025-our-conversation-with-darien-chen-and-amazin-lethi-ep-162/

What Caused the Cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025? Our Discussion with David Yu Ep 220

What Caused the Cancellation of WorldPride Taiwan 2025? Our Discussion with David Yu Ep 220: https://talkingtaiwan.com/what-caused-the-cancellation-of-worldpride-taiwan-2025-our-discussion-with-david-yu-ep-220/

General Yu (于北辰): Former 4-Star General of Taiwan Army Shifts from KMT to Independent Ep 256

General Yu (于北辰): Former 4-Star General of Taiwan Army Shifts from KMT to Independent (Episode 256): https://talkingtaiwan.com/general-yu-%e4%ba%8e%e5%8c%97%e8%be%b0-former-4-star-general-of-taiwan-army-shifts-from-kmt-to-independent-ep-256/

The post Cony Hsieh Kaohsiung Pride President Focuses on LGBTQ+ Issues and Reforming Taiwan’s Military | Ep 350 appeared first on Talking Taiwan Podcast.

Passport to Taiwan 2026: Making Our Rounds with Taiwanese Community Organizations FAPA, TCCNY & NATMA | Ep 345

Felicia Lin — Wed, 27 May 2026 04:18:58 +0000

We stepped out in the drizzling rain for this year’s Passport to Taiwan 2026 on Sunday, May 24th in New York City’s Union Square Park, and were happy to see that the weather hadn’t put much of a damper on the number people that came out for this annual tradition.

We made our rounds and spoke to people at some of the booths representing different Taiwanese American community organizations including the Formosan Association for Public Affairs (FAPA), the Taiwanese Chamber of Commerce New York, (TCCNY) and the North American Taiwanese Medical Association (NATMA). And if doing a deep dive into historical facts related to Taiwan is your thing, we recommend you check out @formosa.forever on Instagram.

Vickie Wang (王宇平) On Who Gets to Be Taiwanese and Stand-Up Comedy Part 2 | Ep 344

Felicia Lin — Fri, 24 Apr 2026 11:51:28 +0000

In part two of our interview with Vickie Wang (王宇平), she talked about how the COVID lockdown of 2022 in Shanghai affected her mental health, her thoughts on the Great Recall movement in Taiwan last year, how she questions her Taiwanese-ness i.e. if she’s Taiwanese enough, generative propaganda, and how she got into stand-up comedy.

Vickie Wang a writer, interpreter, and stand-up comedian born and raised in Taiwan. Now based in New City York she co-produces a monthly stand-up show called Wang’s World Comedy.

Vickie will be emceeing this year’s Talking Taiwan Fundraising Gala on Friday, May 1.

As our emcee Vickie will bring her signature wit and energy to the evening. Purchase tickets to the Talking Taiwan

Fundraising Gala or to make a contribution visit: https://events.humanitix.com/talking-taiwan-2026-fundraising-gala/tickets